Annotated chess game: Chess game

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ANNOTATED GAME

Chess game
Pierre99 (1200) vs. Yakimov (2375)
Annotated by: pierre99 (1200)
Chess opening: Robatsch (modern) defence (B06)

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12... Nd4

If I were to guess, I'd say this was a great move by black. He wants to crash those pawns down, and does so threatening my white bishop at the same time. I took a moment to consider options here, and decided I could not let that knight sit there at all, nor allow black to initiate the pawn trades. So...

13. Nxd4

I took it.

13... cxd4

Pxd4. I expected that. This next move to me is a no brainer and forced him into a move he did not wish to make, I think. Perhaps he did not think this all the way through; after all, it was a blitz game.

14. Ne2 e5

Protecting the pawn. But this is a passive move. Now, at this point, I would be worried about black playing f5 eventually if he also had pressure down the c file. But because of the white square white bishop, and lack of c file pressure, this is not a real concern at this point to me, not yet. Right now, I am worried about ...d5, despite my bishop. Why am I worried? I don't want to allow black to begin to break through to my king. Black has played - in my eyes - amazingly passive up to this point. I don't understand it, but hey. Finally I can begin to make the moves I've been waiting to make.

15. Bxg7

Now many of you chess players out there may be tempted to accuse me of throwing away my black bishop for no compensation. His black bishop at this point is not doing much. But that's not the point. Here's my point: looking ahead, that black bishop, with an open center - which black can open eventually - will be a major pain. And how useful is my bishop really in this position? Yes, it's in a good place. But I'd rather loosen up Black's kingside immediately by trading that bishop now, even though some of you will disagree. Even though that means the black king will be off the a2-g8 diagonal. Will I be proved right here? Probably not without inaccurate play by the 2375 Yakimov, but I do it anyways.

15... Kxg7

Retakes.

16. f4

And now, I finally get in f4. This is what I have wanted to do since very early in the game. And it is right here that my opponent makes, in my estimation, the move that allows him to lose this game.

16... f6

Okay, what is up here. I don't see what he's thinking. I definitely don't want e5.

17. f5

Yes, I am willing to trade pawns, open the center, and allow threats against my white King, because black's King right now will be horribly exposed. To his credit, black realizes this, but now I have created a chink in black's armor, and I pursue it. Would analysis indicate opening up the position to be survivable for black and give him a great attack on my King? I'm not sure. My king is also on g1, and perhaps ought to be on h1, but as it turns out, it did not need to be.

17... g5

I really did not expect this. I expected a bloody battle up there around f5. Black can really hit back now in the center, and break things wide open, and in my estimation - again without analysis - should do so immediately, if nothing else but to get rid of my powerful white bishop. I fully expect him to soon. The white squares around black's king are very weak, and the black squares are not all that secure. I am really loving my white bishop right now.

18. Ng3

This really shouldn't get anywhere, but black mishandles things on the kingside shortly.

18... Qe8

I expected that.

1 comment

19. Qe2

Again, I see all kinds of black tactics available here. All I am doing now is trying to infiltrate the black kingside. I am hoping to get in h4, and begin wreaking havoc on the black king.

19... Rh8

Well, black chose to defend, and creates a space for his King to flee to. But was there a better thing to do? I've heard it said that the best defense is a good offense, but black is still passive here, despite all the tactical threats I can see. Look at how my white pawns inhibit my activity on the queenside. I really don't have much there at all besides my white squared bishop. A powerful counterattack in the middle/queenside by black a bit earlier may have changed this game's outcome but now black is going to face serious difficulties. On his part, should black have played d5 by now?

20. Nh5+

Here black thought a while. He has to know that h4 is coming. Suddenly, that white bishop is a powerhouse. He'll have to do something about it soon.

20... Kf8

The only move. Unless he were willing to give up his queen. I've played games against someone who always gets their queen out and takes a pawn, so as to give me queen odds. I have yet to beat him too, amazingly enough. I don't know who it is, but each time we play, I come tantalizingly close to beating him, only to lose to his greatly superior positional strength. I'm sure many of you have played that player too. Just sayin. I have to say this in this game; I used it once in a previously annotated game. But black has simply dithered around too long. Perhaps he was interested in just seeing what I would do, maybe just looking for ideas for later thought. After all, this is an unrated game. And I'm totally random to him.

21. Nxf6

This is practically forced for white to do.

21... Qc8

So black's king is in big trouble now. Perhaps black thought he'd survive the storm with a crushing attack down on the white's kingside. I don't know. Black can resign now, but plays on for a while. Why do I say black can resign? Because not only is he down material, his King has no where to run and he won't muster up a good enough defense to stop white's attack. I still can't believe this player, with this rating, allowed this position to be reached.

22. Qh5 d5

Too little, too late. This should have happened ages ago.

23. exd5 Kg7

Well this is now not worth commenting on to be honest, and I don't mean that to be offensive. It's just chess.

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